You are injured in a Hartford Connecticut car accident. You were taken by ambulance to a local hospital. You are admitted overnight because of of the injuries that you have suffered so you could be monitored by the doctors. You have received x-rays, multiple CAT scans and an MRI. You have been seen by multiple doctors and a small army of nurses. Multiple tests of been conducted, your blood has been taken and you have been provided with various types of medications. You are now ready to be discharged. So what you need to do?
If you’re going to be discharged from the hospital you should make sure that you have a family member or trusted friend with you at the time the doctor or nurse comes into your room to provide you with discharge instructions. You’ll probably be in pain, you’ll probably be tired, you will be confused and full of anxiety. Your ability to understand what is being told to you and what you need to do might be unclear after you get home. In fact, one study found that patients who were being discharged from the hospital forget between 40% to 80% of what the doctors and nurses tell them even though they appear to understand what is being said. It is important that your family member or trusted friend record all of this important information because this will form the basis of your next medical steps, the frequency of the medications you are to take, and how to handle any complications.
To the extent possible, you should attempt to get copies of all of your tests and scans, the emergency room record, and any and all medical notes. If you have had an operation you should get a copy of the operative report and finally a copy of your discharge summary. This information might prove to be invaluable when you follow-up with another doctor so you can present all of this information if the doctor has yet to receive it from the hospital.
Perhaps one of the most important things you should do before you leave the hospital is to make sure that a follow-up appointment is scheduled for you. This way you will know what doctor you were seeing and what date and time the appointment was scheduled for. This way you can make sure that you will be seen in a timely basis by a doctor that has been recommended by the hospital who will be in a position to assess your situation and can provide you with follow-up care and treatment. You want to make sure that this doctor is in your network so that it is covered by insurance.
There are many other things that you should be doing after you have been involved in a Connecticut accident case. Our CT accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys have written the book on Connecticut accident and injury law. This valuable free resource can be downloaded by visiting www.HCWLAW.com. You will be able to learn about what you should be doing and what you should not be doing. The book will even tell you how to get better medical care and how you can get better quicker. You can also call of us at 888-842-8466 and ask one of our experienced Connecticut accident attorneys whatever questions you have about your case or you can schedule a consultation where one of our CT injury lawyers will be happy to meet with you to discuss the specifics of your case and will advise you as to what you should be doing.
Many people are concerned that they will not be able to afford a Connecticut personal injury lawyer. Our attorneys take these cases on a contingency fee basis and advance the cost to develop your case. In other words, you will not have to come up with any money out of pocket because any fees and costs would be paid once you obtain money damages. If there is no recovery then you would owe no legal fees and no costs. We want you to concentrate on getting better so we take all of the financial risk in representing you.
Get this valuable free information today before you make a mistake in attempting to handle your own Connecticut personal injury case.